Shirou, the Seeker of Darkness
by Skelo
Summary: A proper Fate stay night kingdom hearts crossover. Shirou becomes a human Heartless and speaks like Ansem, Xemnas, Xehanort. Kingdom Hearts is simply another word for the Swirl of the Root, Akasha; one only known by the Realm of Darkness. Shirou searches for Seven Princesses of Heart during the Fifth Holy Grail War in order to reach it. Shirou/Sakura, later Harem. Saber Alter used
1. A Heartless is Born

The Realm of Darkness, a realm that mirrors our own. Not in shape, but in composition. For every bit of light across every world, darkness in equal amounts was present in this realm. It was a realm with no concept of time or reason, filled with the gas/liquid/solid known as darkness; enough to blanket all worlds. There was no intelligence, no life, no Type-Darkness existed. The only existence within this realm was the same existence that was in all realms: Akasha, the Swirl of the Root; also known as Kingdom Hearts.

Angra Mainyu was the being closest to darkness in the Realm of Light; yet it too would fall far short; being a sum of all the world's evils. Pure darkness was absolute instinct, it would consume all those weaker than itself, which was why no intelligence had yet to be formed and it had no concept of 'sin' or 'evil' to base itself around.

However three almost simultaneous occurrences would open up a brief door to darkness and change its nature forever.

First; during the Fourth Holy Grail War; the Lesser Grail was destroyed whilst _overflowing_. After only absorbing five of the seven Servants; the Lesser Grail was full. This was due to death of Iskandar, also known as the King of Conquerors: Alexander the Great; as well as the death of an unusually powerful Berserker.

This was hardly the first time the Lesser Grail had been destroyed; otherwise there would be an actual winner in the previous wars; but this was the first time it had been _full_.

Second; before its destruction Angra Mainyu had actually interacted with and _cursed _a Master. A Master had actually refused a wish!

Angra Mainyu had been furious; here it was; full power and beating at the doors of its prison, and it had been _refused_. Its scream of rage and frustration sent shockwaves similar to the ones a screaming Gaia had released four thousand years ago. But rather than be answered by the Types from other planets; the Realm of Darkness heard it.

But it didn't have a true intelligence; there was no Type that could manifest itself on Gaia. It needed a summoning.

And thus the third event: five hundred souls sacrificed and consumed by darkness. A corridor to darkness was opened within the flames; and five hundred screaming souls were devoured. This imprint created the first existences of the dark realm; five hundred new beings known as Heartless. Being of pure instinct and hunger; they poured right back across the corridor and into the world.

Only to encounter the mother of all roadblocks: the World. The Heartless tripped just about every single warning both Alaya (the will of humanity) and her opposite Gaia (the will of the Earth) had and they were _not_ letting them through. Gaia opposed them due to being alien and Alaya opposed them due to the high chance of them leading to human extinction. They needed a back-door into the world whilst Angra Mainyu was still going strong and the corridor existed.

* * *

The soon to be Emiya Shirou was an empty existence. In order to survive the flames of his burning home he had thrown away all the things that held him back. He had no memories anymore; he had thrown them away. Nor did he have emotions; as they held him back from taking another step forwards.

Shirou didn't know this; but he had turned himself into a Nothing; a pseudo-Nobody. Rather than losing his heart; he had simply emptied it out completely. Instead of his heart being an existence of light and darkness; his heart was a devoid of the smallest speck of darkness and the smallest glimmer of light. Thus the darkness of five hundred damned souls flowed in.

Shirou didn't scream, he couldn't scream, as he collapsed; his hair turning white and his eyes turning yellow. The instinctual powers of the Heartless immediately activated his twenty-seven Magic Circuits and overcharged them. The pain was excruciating as the body of Emiya Shirou was overridden by five-hundred other existences taking residence inside his heart.

If left alone; the Heartless known as Emiya Shirou would emerge, probably as a Darkside. Shedding its mortal coil it would rampage whilst its very existence was opposed by the World. It would eventually fade away or be destroyed and the world would just tick over. But Kiritsugu Emiya found him and inserted Avalon, the holy sheath of King Arthur, into his body.

An artifact of supreme healing and light cloaked his body and healed it. A heart belonging to the Realm of Light is simply light with a dark core. Even an evil man would simply switch his heart's nature. Deep down there would still be a light that never went out.

Emiya Shirou now was a core of darkness surrounded by light. Kiritsugu Emiya had succeeded in multiple things that had never been accomplished before with one simple action: He had saved Shirou's life, body and mind. He had fooled the world itself into thinking Emiya Shirou was a natural existence. And he had disguised a heartless as a human. The world now treated Shirou himself as a heart.

**Ten years later…**

Emiya Shirou was an odd magus. Not incompetent, as everything he showed even the slightest affinity to he mastered, so quickly it was almost _instinctual_. The problem was the fact that he was only shown to have an affinity with Reinforcement. He always used Structural Grasp in combination with Reinforcement; and could Structural Grasp with a glance. In fact, Shirou was half convinced he was born with a unique Mystic Eyes of Structural Grasp; due to his yellow eyes.

But his fighting instincts were inhumane. Oh he didn't master weapons and martial arts as soon as he picked up the said weapon; but he learnt all forms of combat and weaponry fast. Shirou didn't know this; but due to being an entity of instinct at his core; he was in some ways similar to a certain famous King of Knights from the previous Holy Grail War; and was slowly developing the Instinct and a budding Eye of the Mind (False) skills.

A normal Eye of the Mind is the 'snatching victory from the jaws of defeat' from experience gained of getting out of or succeeding in such conditions across many battlefields. Battlefield experience on steroids is an apt comparison.

Eye of the Mind (False) is similar, but instead comes from something artificial and is usually focused on getting out of a said situation rather than succeeding in it. Rather than having experience; something has supercharged your survival instincts to get out of the said situation. Spiderman's 'Spider-Sense' would be the most obvious comparison.

If Shirou kept up his progress, the modern world was going to have a hell of a Magus Killer v2.0 on their hands. He may even become a Heroic Spirit after death; probably a Saber, although with his recent progress a Caster wasn't far behind.

Kiritsugu had been startled with the weird 'talent' that Shirou had; as if he was designed to be his apprentice. Shirou didn't have any talent in creating Bounded Fields (also known as wards if one was a Harry Potter fan). He did however seem to have an affinity to pierce and destroy them with ease.

This was fundamentally different to Kiritsugu's method of modifying and exploiting holes in Bounded Fields and thus going in undetected. Shirou had talent, actual talent, in being a sledgehammer. Kiritsugu found it ironic.

Thus he told Shirou everything; about the previous Holy Grail War and more importantly; about his daughter Illyasviel von Einzbern. And the secret horror he had at her being turned into the new vessel for the Lesser Grail in the next war. He also told Shirou of his inability to assail the Bounded Field of the Einzberns due to him advising them on their weaknesses. He had done this whilst still adopted in their family as a branch member.

Kiritsugu believed that since he had defeat himself; and the Einzbern's Bounded Fields themselves were ridiculously strong; only someone like Shirou could actually rescue his daughter. But going up against the Einzbern homunculi was suicide normally, so Shirou would have to prepare for a war or sneak in. The instinctual Heartless inside of him thrived in such conditions. Training, Combat, Mission. All Heartless had a Mission; and all Heartless sought out new hearts.

Shirou was still unaware of what he was; all he knew and cared about was that he learnt even faster now that he had an objective, the logic coming from his human body telling his instinctual self that he wasn't strong enough.

* * *

Later on he had also met a girl whilst training: Sakura Matou. From the moment he had met her; he desired her.

Of course; Emiya Shirou was a gentleman; as taught by Kiritsugu. But the instinct of a Heartless; which was frantically telling him that she was an ally; was confused with human hormones. And thus Shirou rationalised that he desired Sakura even from a young age. His Structural Grasp and life sensing instincts told him of the horrors inside that poor girl's body. Thus a wish was created. A wish to save two girls with his power.

A wish that in his deepest instincts became an absolute order: Emiya Shirou will save his sister and his mate. Emiya Shirou will save his family. This broken, distorted thing inside of him interacted with Avalon and began crafting a Reality Marble from the blueprints.

From this was born a distortion far less damaging to himself; but far more damaging, in the future, to the World.

It was the end of a Friday, the last day of the week. Girls crowded around two boys: Shinji Matou and Shirou Emiya. Both had exotic looks, Shinji with his blue hair and eyes; Shirou with his white hair and yellow eyes.

However Shirou was a lot bigger; as expected from the kendo and archery champion of the school. He had finally managed to beat his teacher, kendo instructor and legal guardian, this year. Her name was Taiga Fujimura, daughter of a Yakuza boss and still receiving an allowance.

Shinji and Shirou had been friends for a long time until one event happened that killed it off for good: Rin Tohsaka for some reason had a crush on him. Or at the very least, was fascinated by him. Always touching, poking and prodding Shirou. Come to think of it; she was probably the main reason that he even had girls coming after him. He wasn't that great…

But the pretty girls after him were the last thing on Shirou's mind. He had finally completed his trump card, if it could be called such a thing. His earnest wishes and desperation for a solution after his father died had led to research in the most forbidden of subjects: a reality marble. It was Magecraft close to Sorcery that overwrote the rules of the world and substituted in your own. A forbidden Magecraft due to the high chance of it driving the people insane as they desperately tried to see the world from a different angle.

Shirou didn't care; his was going to save his family.

He could not fight the entire Einzbern household and rescue Illya; so the world had to change into something that allowed him to do so. He couldn't take away the Crest Worm in Sakura's heart without killing her, so he had to imagine a world where he could. A world of darkness; where beings could survive without their hearts and darkness so complete that it could hide him completely in order to rescue Illya. That image and those rules came rather easily to him and thus he created an aria; containing the truth about himself and the world.

It would allow him to cure Sakura Matou; and thus allow them to be together. There was no room for doubt, as the rules changed to make him successful.

* * *

"Sakura-chan, please accompany me home today. I have some good news." I tell my cute junior as I walk through the school hallway. She nods and replies, "Hai, Senpai," before accompanying me with a smile.

That smile stayed on even when she passed Rin Tohsaka, who stood in front of us and smiled naturally. Of course my instincts were yelling 'false' at me, so I knew that smile was a mask. She probably wanted to kiss and dissect me; and not guaranteed in that order.

But as I was a gentleman I will once again play the fool to Rin. "Oh, Tohsaka-san, is there something you need?" She smirked cheekily at me before glancing over at Sakura and suddenly looking slightly sullen. "Nothing Emiya-kun, I was just wondering what you are doing for the rest of today." She smiled for the invisible camera and my instincts once again screamed out 'fake' to me.

Suddenly I was assaulted with a massive migraine; and held my right hand up to my temple in an attempt to quell it. Words appeared in my head and the headache increased in severity.

_'Seven Princesses of Heart are needed…'_

"Gaaaaah!" My head feels like it's about to split open.

_'…to open the door to Kingdom Hearts…'_

Just as suddenly as it appeared, the headache vanished. Although Tohsaka obviously suspected something; due to a light frown she had on her face, she wouldn't make a scene of it at school. Taking a deep breath I smile once again at Tohsaka. My instincts and magic sense told me that she was a magus and I am pretty sure she suspects me. It's either that or she genuinely wants to cut me up for doing better than her at school. I think it's frankly terrifying that it may indeed be the genuine reason she is after me. Damn tsundere personality traits; you could never tell.

"Ahh, Senpai! Are you ok?" Sakura worries over me, running her hands over my shoulders. What a wonderful girl. I better take her home with me and cure her, _was that a grope?_

"Don't worry about me Sakura-chan," I smile at her. "Soon, we will be happy together."

"Ahh, Senpai…" Sakura shakes her head and looks very shy; blushing horribly and sneaking glances at me. What a cute junior.

"Hmmm. Shirou, you better not be doing something weird to Sakura!" Rin crosses her arms and looks away, the angry-but-not-angry tsundere superior look.

"Ahh, don't worry Tohsaka-san. I will take good care of our cute junior. She will be my future wife after all."

"…"

"WHAT!" Rin enters her super tsundere mode and Sakura's entire face turns red. Steam even seems to rise from her head and she looks down at the floor.

"S-senpai…" Sakura's quick look turned hungry before it disappeared; much to my secret satisfaction. It was always the quite ones. Rin was charging up for a rant but the fulfilment of a promise I made was much more important.

"Come on Sakura. Let's go home." I smile and reach out with my hand.

"Hai, Senpai! Goodbye Tohsaka-snepai," She smiles and _was that a glare at Rin_? No, I must be imagining things.

Rin was left speechless. Well, not exactly for long…

* * *

Back home Shirou prepared for the most complex sequence of events and magic of his young life. This was to be the first of three planned times he was going to use his Reality Marble for a ritual. He couldn't make a single mistake. No, Emiya Shirou would not make a mistake. He had very few objectives; none could be allowed to fail.

He took Sakura to his workshop. At this point it didn't matter if she knew that he was a magus or not. If his instincts were right she would soon be the last Matou alive anyway.

"Alright Sakura-chan. I need you to trust me. I will cure you; right now, I promise." Shirou gave Sakura a winning promise. He was going to fulfil his ideal; right here, right now.

"Hai, Senpai!" Sakura nodded at him whilst saying her catchphrase. She had the utmost faith in her Shirou. Being his future wife…

* * *

Shirou sighed as he watched Sakura's fallen form. _'Well at least she knocked herself out.'_

Shirou closed his eyes and began his aria. The incantation that would always be unique to him and the key to his hopes and dreams.

"**This heart belongs to darkness**…" He knew that from the moment he was saved from the fire.

"**All worlds begin and end in darkness**…" Such things were only logical.

"**This heart is no different**…" The darkness of death never faded.

"**Darkness lives within it; it grows, consumes it**…" He was a creature of instinct above all else.

"**Every heart returns to darkness**…" Every heart belongs to the realm of darkness.

"**Thus this world has been connected**

**Eclipsed by my heart of darkness!**"

A shining wall of black light shone from the ground up, expanding in a circle; showing the border of the Bounded Field. Within his Heart of Darkness there was only the absence of everything. For nothing of this world could survive in the dark realm. Unfortunately anything brought into it by Shirou, friend or foe, was invisible to this corrosive effect. It had no weapons inside, nor an actual attack.

But one of its properties was 'absolute isolation'. It was a completely different realm, and based on King Arthur's Avalon, although he wasn't aware he had it inside of him, and even further isolated when compared to other Reality Marbles. Nothing from the outside world could reach it. That included the Will of Gaia; for if even the slightest rupture existed; the realms of Light and Darkness would be locked in eternal struggle and annihilate each other.

Magic in here could be performed without Gaia interfering. Not even a Command Seal could remove a Servant from his realm.

But it was the one rule that existed in this this realm that would allow him to save Sakura. One impossible rule: That you could live without your heart in this realm. With this one rule; he would be able to remove the Crest Worm from Sakura without killing her.

It was time to get to work…


	2. Dark Queen Manufactured

**Ty madripper for being my beta; found an impossible to spot typo and helps me with the plot**

Shirou took a deep breath before engulfing his right arm with darkness. It turned completely black and acquired pointed tips on all his fingers.

Whilst it did look somewhat creepy, all it did was add a 'Heartless' attribute to his arm, allowing him to extract a heart with it without breaking the skin.

No less fatal, but within his Realty Marble it was the best he could hope for to minimise the risks to Sakura. Shirou took a deep breath before he plunged his right arm into her chest. It went right through her clothes and skin like a ghost before touching her heart.

The Heartless attribute activated, instantly separating her heart form the rest of her arteries whilst his Reality Marble activated and put Sakura in stasis. Shirou extracted her steaming heart with not even a drop of blood spilt. The worm came along for the ride.

_'There is that disgusting thing!'_ Shirou thought angrily as he used his human left hand to extract the worm and crush it. Usually that would rip her heart to pieces but the Heartless attribute was still in effect, allowing him to extract the worm through the heart using his human left hand.

It squealed before it was crushed in his Reinforced hand.

Sakura's heart was now being engulfed in a black light due to being prolonged contact with his Heartless hand.

_'Shit; better act quick before Sakura becomes a Heartless without a body!"_ Shirou plunged his right hand back into her chest and deposited her heart back into its correct position.

"**Dark Heal**!" Shirou yelled as he channelled his Prana into Sakura's body through his Heartless arm. There was no light show as the magic was already internalised in Sakura's body.

Dark Heal, along with his other Dark spells – _he somehow knew that he had others_ –, were instinctual spells that only appeared in Shirou's head when he needed them.

However they would only 'appear' within his Reality Marble and were forgotten –_ repressed?_ – after the Reality Marble ended. Not that it made much of a difference; Shirou instinctivly knew that the World hated his Dark Spells to the point where it would attempt to erase him from existence if he tried to use them.

And this wasn't the standard 'to be a magus is to walk with death' stuff either. Shirou was absolutely certain that he would die if he chose to use his Dark Spells outside of **My Heart of Darkness**.

Dark Heal wasn't a super healing spell without risks though. It only worked on those from the Dark Realm, meaning that Shirou was balancing Sakura's life on a knife's edge. He was gambling that there was enough darkness left, from his arm, on Sakura's heart that Dark Heal would be effective enough to reconnect her heart before it all faded away. This conclusion left him reasonably confident as well as trusting his instincts.

* * *

Unknown to Shirou, Dark Heal did more than heal Sakura; it activated the digested pieces of the Holy Grail from the Fourth War. Those pieces had been consumed by a Crest Worm; a worm that had replaced forty percent of Sakura's nerves with its own body.

The substitution was complete though, meaning that forty percent of Sakura's nerves functioned as both a nerve and a high quality magic circuit. With no brain from the Crest Worm in Sakura's heart to tell it what to do; it had now become a proper internal Magic Crest.

A Magic Crest that was now without a guiding intelligence and unleashed the 'Shadow': a near formless entity that hungers for magic; made up of pieces of Angra Mainyu.

If this had occurred within the Earth, a connection to the Great Grail would have formed. The small amounts of Angra Mainyu, contained within the pieces of the Grail, would have linked up to its main body in the Great Grail.

Angra Mainyu would have then attempted to bring itself into the world through the slaughtering innocents for their Prana with this method.

But this activation didn't occur within the Earth; it occurred within **My Heart of Darkness**. And thus as the darkness of the Shadow enveloped a healing Sakura, Shirou recognised a fellow instinctual being.

"A dark power sleeps with your heart, Sakura…"

_'Hearts are the source of all power…'_

"Very well, darkness exists to feed and devour instinctual beings like this. Here, have everything…"

With a gesture of his still free left hand; Shirou directed the darkness around them; which shivered, before flowing into the Shadow trying to consume Sakura and his arm. With a sudden new source to feed upon, Shirou's right hand was released from the hungry grip of the Shadow. He immediately jumped back to observe the rest of the phenomenon.

The small pieces of Angra Mainyu still present within the rest of the Magical Crest were being consumed by the everlasting hunger of darkness; which even now began possessing the Magic Crest around Sakura's heart and central nervous system. An explosion of dark prana erupted from Sakura's body, easily triple Shirou's output.

Shirou looked at this explosion and smiled. This was the successful result his instincts were telling him about. As he watched Sakura with his Structural Grasp he witnessed the dark prana eating every remaining worm inside Sakura's body, cleansing her.

With a sudden pulse, his Reality Marble shattered and Sakura's dark covered form started moving. Shirou took off running at her, determined to comfort her if she was in pain.

He lifted her up bridal-style from the cold floor and gazed upon her.

When he used his Structural Grasp on her he was struck speechless: Sakura's Magic Crest was connected directly to the Realm of Darkness.

_'This is incredible, she functions more like a living portal to the dark realm then a Grail at this point. What further progress could be made if she studies the Matou magic now? She could be the key, the one with the ability to summon Heartless into this world. No, I am sure that she is the one; dad said the Matou specialised in familiars. It was only that old vampire's desire for immortality that ruined their Magecraft.'_

Shirou turned off his Structural Gasp and examined Sakura's physical appearance with his normal eyes. Sakura's violet hair had turned white and what he had initially assumed to be a dark power around her was actually a black cloak; one that had overwritten her school uniform. Sakura stirred and opened her eyes cutely. Wine red orbs instead of violet; still without a pupil.

"S-senpai?"

_'Well she sounds the same at least.'_

"Sakura, I was so worried. But the operation went flawlessly." Shirou smiled down at Sakura and kissed her forehead.

"Ahh, S-senpai… Thank you." Sakura gave him a true smile in return. As he examined her with a bit more Structural Grasp he saw the darkness pulsing out from her Crest.

The Crest was forty percent of her nerves and would cause her pain when used. But it was now the same as any other Magical Crest from other mage families. Maybe a bit more painful as the Crest _was_ her nerves. But no consciousness was there; Shirou was certain of it.

Thus Sakura was safe from the control of that worm-ridden corpse of a grandfather and it was time for her to secure her freedom.

"Sakura, you have to secure your future now." He emphasised the seriousness of this conversation.

Sakura looked up, slightly confused. She was still blushing from the kiss but with each pulse of her Magic Crest a feral presence made itself clearer. Shirou smiled; _'This may be easier than I thought. Might as well be blunt then.'_

"You must purge your home of all life so that you can never be hurt again; Sakura... So that we can one day get married and… so no one can hurt our children." Shirou looked straight at her, completely honest as he told her to kill her family.

_'They're just future hearts after all…'_

Sakura looked up at her Senpai as if for the first time. Then she smiled at her perfect senpai as her darkness pulsed to the beat of her heart.

"Hai, Senpai." A **Dark Corridor** opened and she vanished from his arms.

* * *

Shirou was stunned speechless; not at the display of teleportation magic that he couldn't use outside of his Reality Marble. It was Magecraft that far surpassed his own.

No, he was surprised at the ease that Sakura said she would kill her family for him.

He thought long and hard, before laughing. Just an empty laugh, devoid of any emotions.

_'She views me as perfect. Absolutely perfect; therefor any command I give her must be the best one…_

_Heh, we are both mad… mad beings of darkness trapped in the Realm of Light._

_Don't worry my love; we shall create a Realm of Darkness for us to belong… Is the love we have madness? Is it a strength or a weakness? Will the World be able to stop us? I must find these answers…'_

When did the laughter become tears?

Never the less, Shirou finally allowed himself to collapse on the cold ground. He had overused his circuits to perform complex and incredibly sensitive magic; before feeding his entire output to the Shadow in order to connect it to the Real of Darkness.

It had then changed the nature of Sakura's Magic Crest.

He knew without a doubt that Sakura's storage capacity was immense and she would have an infinite hunger for magic. But that was ok. An infinite hunger had met and connected to an infinite source thanks to his efforts. And Sakura had been saved. Now it was time to rest…

* * *

Sakura arrived home to an almost empty house. Almost; as it had a lone insect still residing in it.

"Sakura, what are you doing here you bitch?" Shinji Matou, rapist and her adopted brother, said without turning around from the kitchen; raiding the fridge.

_'__**KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM**__…'_

The darkness in her heart pulsed with that single-minded thought. Shinji, Grandfather; everyone had defiled her. But Shirou cured her. Her Shirou was perfect. He was without flaws. Any mistakes he made would be due to no fault of his own.

_'Like leaving Shinji alive. Shinji might hurt Senpai if he is left alive… __**KILL HIM**__… And then it would be my fault that Senpai died. __**KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM**__…'_

"Sorry, Ni-san…" A group of dark tendrils rose out of her shadow.

***Squelch...*  
**

"S-sakura…you bitch…" A body fell. The dark tendrils withdrew back into her shadow.

Sakura was sad. She should be sad. So why couldn't she stop smiling…?

"Oh, it's warm Ni-san…" She brought the steaming red organ to her mouth…

* * *

Zouken Matou was doing something which he had never considered doing in his long life: running away from Sakura.

_'I am probably the only person in the world who could receive information from inside Emiya Shirou's Reality Marble. Although that's not exactly correct; I received my soul instantly once the Reality Marble was dropped.'_

His main Crest Worm, the one containing his soul, was inside Sakura Matou's body. That one was destroyed, with his last sight being Emiya Shirou's hand crushing it. Once the Reality Marble was dropped his soul moved to his other lesser Crest Worms currently infesting his corpse body. They were lesser anchors but his soul was undamaged; only its main anchor was destroyed.

This meant that he was reduced to being an actual finite existence, since he couldn't jump to anymore bodies without his main anchor in place. He also couldn't create another Crest Worm unless he regained the Matou Mansion and the worms within the cellar. And he couldn't beat Sakura as she was now; meaning he had months at best to live.

Every last worm familiar in that house had been consumed by Sakura in an instant after she killed Shinji. Every last drop of Prana lost and every worm shrivelled and dead. He had the worms inside his body and that was it.

_'The Holy Grail War better start soon so I can summon a Servant. I still have some tricks left even without a reagent to summon one with… I… WILL… LIVE… FOREVER…'_

* * *

**One week later…**

Things had finally settled down from after that nerve-wracking night. Sakura had put some of her blood and Shinji's memories into Shinji's corpse, turning it into a corpse familiar rather than a human one. This familiar was now going to school after a week off due to being 'sick'.

Rin was probably the only one who could tell the difference and she obviously wanted to confront Sakura about her brother's death. But for some reason she never did; especially seeing Sakura cling to my arm, smiling serenely – _or was that a smirk?_ – at her whenever she came close.

Someday I was going to ask about the history between them.

Never mind the fact that after only a week of studying, Sakura had created a successful familiar. This made Sakura just as smart as Rin in my opinion. Not that I had any idea how competent Rin is as a mage; but I trusted my instincts.

My Structural Grasp also tells me that Rin is almost without equal: She had Forty… FORTY naturally high-class Magic Circuits within her body along with 30 high-class ones from her Crest. In comparison to my twenty-seven high class circuits and an average magus's 20 average class circuits she was a ridiculous monster of a mage.

On a side note, I found it ironic that as a familiar; Shinji Matou had the Magic Circuits he always dreamed about.

* * *

Unfortunately Matou Zouken had escaped into the night; though much reduced according to Sakura.

I sigh and kiss Sakura's head, causing her to snuggle. I could wait no longer to fulfil my second objective: Rescuing Illya from the Einzbern family.

My Prana had recovered and Sakura had just told me that she had secured her mansion's Bounded Field. With wishes that she kept safe and continued her catch-up studying; I spend the rest of the day at school and tell her I won't be coming back to the Matou mansion. Taiga-sensei – don't let her catch you saying that! – would only accept 'starvation' for so long. And since Shinji was 'better' I had no excuse not to return home to feed her. Honestly, feeding my sensei sounds a lot more romantic then what it really is: throwing good food at a ravenous beast.

None the less I lasted the entire day and prepared for what could be the most dangerous night of my life. After feeding the beast and calling Sakura – and getting wished good luck – I dressed up in an all black outfit consisting of a black polypropylene undershirt, black coat and pants with black military silenced boots and a white snow jacket.

I brought with me a first aid kit and a pair of white goggles for the snow. The point of these blacks and whites was to hide in the snow forest just outside the Einzbern Bounded Field whilst bringing it down. Once complete I would drop the white and envelop the entire castle with** My Heart of Darkness**. Although there was no natural light within the Reality Marble; due to the lack of Illyasviel's location I would have to envelope the whole castle. This meant that light provided inside the castle would still be available.

The good news was due to it being such a large area the usefulness of Dark Corridors increased.

The bad news was once again the area. I was good; but I was no Rin or Sakura in terms of Prana. I had a minute tops in this situation. We had no familiars to scout; we almost didn't finish Shinji in time. The prudent thing would be to wait for another week to create – or recreate – some flying bug familiars used by the Matou to scout. But I would not allow Illya to be without her family for another second now that I could help.

"**This heart belongs to darkness**…" Saying the beginning of my aria, I partially manifest my Reality Marble and open a Dark Corridor. I take one more breath and jump into the darkness.

* * *

**Germany, The Einzbern Castle…**

"Now Illyasviel, you will be summoning your Servant today. This is so you can get revenge on Emiya Kiritsugu by killing his son Shirou; who he replaced you with." Jubstacheit von Einzbern spewed his poison into little Illyasviel's ear. It was two months before the start of the Fifth Holy Grail War and Jubstacheit would accept nothing more than total victory. They planned to summon the strongest Servant in the strongest class: Heracles, also known as Hercules, as Berserker.

To pull this off the Einzbern family had modified Illyasviel's magic circuits to the extreme, allowing her to generate immense amounts prana to the point that she could summon and maintain a corporal Berserker without the aid of the Grail. This was also aided by the Einzbern Wish-Granting Sorcery Trait; which allowed her to skip all thaumaturgical processes and go straight to the result; so long as the person had enough prana. (Aka fuck the process; give me results)

Of course this drastically lowered Illyasviel's lifetime: it was guaranteed that she wouldn't live past twenty. Not that she would appear twenty at that point in time either; rather she would die before puberty organs were developed.

She was already eighteen yet she appeared twelve at the oldest.

"Yes Grandfather. Do you have a reagent?" Illya innocently looked back at her Grandfather; who showed her a massive box on the floor.

"Yes, now prepare yourself Illyasviel. If you fail you will be cast out; I do not accept failure." With his harsh words said; Jubstacheit left Illya in her room. Her was her parents' old room and on one of the top floors overlooking the grounds.

Gazing through the window; Illya was the first person in Germany to see a Dark Corridor manifest itself just outside the Einzbern Bounded Field.


	3. Dark Knights Recruited

**Changed the BOLD font. Bolded letters are now for the first introduction of spells (original Dark Heal to tell the reader that it is a spell) and lines from Shirou's Reality Marble; signifying that like the visual novel memorizing the aria is actually relevant and fun.**

**This is now betaed by me**

* * *

Shirou examined the Einzbern Bounded Field after stepping out of his Dark Corridor and silently cursed. Whilst his Dark Corridor had gotten through the forest barrier of the Bounded Field, the actual invisible force field part of the barrier; within the clearing; was still functional.

As if that wasn't bad enough; the alarm had been sounded and he would soon have to deal with dozens of Einzbern Battle Homunculi; aka Magical Terminators armed with Mystic Codes.

Most Servants would blanch at facing dozens of these things; although the Three Knight Classes and Berserker would doubtlessly win. Shirou wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell if they fully mobilised.

So he had to break the rest of the Bounded Field in less than a minute; and after that had less than another minute to find and leave with Illya due to his Reality Marble timing out. No pressure.

"**This heart belongs to darkness**," saying the first line of his aria; Shirou strengthened his Magecraft in order to envelope his entire body in the Heartless attribute. Due to triggering the alarm from the get-go stealth had gone out the window.

Shirou's entire body became black and took on a smoky exterior, as if parts of him were drifting away. The only piece of colour on his form was his glowing yellow eyes; which had changed to be a solid yellow with no variation.

Shirou had found in his short lifetime that he was remarkably skilled at two things: Self-Reinforcement, or in fact any Magecraft to do with the human body; including the ability to use Structural Grasp on people by looking at them. And the analysis and destruction Bounded Fields.

Kiritsugu was by far one of the best trainers in the world for this art and had taught Shirou every trick he knew. Although the man couldn't sledgehammer Bounded Fields like Shirou could, he had given Shirou the precision of a surgeon for finding weaknesses in a Magus's defences.

In the seconds after his emergence, Shirou had analysed the Bounded Field and found a slight weakness in the force field. The Einzberns had obviously thought that their impenetrable forest Bounded Field would never be penetrated, let alone bypassed completely, and hadn't fully fortified their inner Bounded Field as much.

With the precision of a surgeon's knife and the power of a sledgehammer; Shirou's coated body shoulder charged the perceived weakness. The impact cracked the field and Shirou bounced himself off before Reinforcing his body and reflexes. Flipping backwards and landing twenty feet back, Shirou crouched down in a runner's starting stance before blasting forwards again. His body was reinforced to its maximum and the Heartless attribute had taken him beyond his mortal limits.

"**All worlds begin and end in darkness**," saying the next line of his aria to solidify the Heartless transformation on himself further; Shirou charged straight at the cracked field and punched a hole straight through. He didn't stop; he couldn't stop, and charged straight at the castle.

* * *

"What the hell is that?" A random Einzbern Magus exclaimed as he looked at Jubstacheit for answers, pointing at the Remote Viewing Orb. It showed a black thing crashing against the inner Bounded Field and cracking them after its second charge.

"A smoke familiar or a Dead Apostle perhaps? However due to the lack of the Dead within the forests I am tempted to go with the familiar but I have never seen a gaseous familiar solidify to such an extent," Jubstacheit remarked as he looked on. The familiar back flipped and tumbled with inhuman agility from the point of impact. And suddenly Jubstacheit came to a horrifying realisation.

"An enemy Servant! Here to capture the Lesser Grail! Quickly now, the Grail must summon her Servant to defend herself!" Jubstacheit's mind was working at a mile a minute; calculating the chances of one of the other two magi families taking part in this early atrocity. Looking for one with the means and the ends to go this far; Jubstacheit came to a startling conclusion: "Zouken…"

* * *

"**This heart is no different**," it didn't matter how fast his heart was beating. Cardiovascular fitness became irrelevant after the third line of the aria. Shirou imagined his trigger; a heart been torn into by teeth; and brought online more and more of his Magic Circuits.

He reached the exterior of the castle wall and slammed his palm onto the wall. He pumped prana into his Structural Grasp and sent it through the castle, searching for living things with a large prana supply. Illya would have been turned into Lesser Grail according to his father. Non-living things always appeared blurry to his Structural Grasp but living things were crystal clear.

"**Darkness lives within it; it grows, consumes it**."

There was a group of large, identical prana signatures coming straight for him; he could safely assume that they were the Battle Homunculi; who would eviscerate him if he was caught. Another group of lesser signatures were at a far higher elevation and were comparatively pathetic to the other signatures in the house.

No doubt they were the squishy Einzbern Magi, who were notorious for being non-combatants.

"**Every heart returns to darkness."**

The final and most powerful signature was in the basement, with a powerful circle that lit up his dull senses and – _'Oh fuck! They're forcing her to summon a Servant early!'_

Even through the surprise and indignation; a sense of purpose was born. He would finish his aria, and rescue his sister, before the homunculi came upon him.

"**Thus this world has been connected**…" He activated every one of his Circuits.

**Eclipsed by my heart of darkness!**" The magic circle pulsed, the front door burst open and a black light consumed the world…

* * *

Shirou appeared in front of the magic circle and kicked away the axe-sword reagent. Unfortunately for him, Illya was on the last line of the summoning incantation and Shirou had the perfect reagent inside his own body.

Even worse, the summoning was technically happening in **My Heart of Darkness** now: another dimension. **My Heart of Darkness**, meet the **Kaleidoscope**, the Second Magic utilised in order to connect to the Throne of Heroes for the summoning ritual.

Different dimension, meet dimension-jumping magically-powered drill…

A hole was blasted straight through a Reality Marble with an 'Absolute Isolation' attribute. The pain was excruciating and caused Shirou to immediately drop the Heartless transformation. Thankfully the hole was rapidly opened and closed by design, or else Shirou would have been forced to decide between keeping up **My Heart of Darkness**; and overloading all his Magic Circuits; or dropping the Reality Marble altogether.

Since both options would result in his death he had no choice but to take a gamble with keeping the Reality Marble on. As such, he had about three seconds before he passed out. He quickly spirited away the three of them to the only beacon he could recognise in such a state: Sakura Matou; before passing out.

* * *

"Onii-chan! Wake up Onii-chan!" Shirou groggily rose up through the blackness of unconsciousness into the blinding light of day. _'Wait, daylight? It was night when I left Japan and afternoon when I rescued Illya in Germany. If I returned to Japan and its daylight then…'_

"Wake up Onii-chan! Or Saber will cut off your balls. Hehehehe…"

That woke him up. Eyes flashing open, he examined the situation he was in. He was tied up in the Matou family's basement; which would be a lot creepier if it wasn't for the complete lack of worms, courtesy of Sakura's new management.

_'Sakura! Shit, where is she?'_ Shirou expanded his senses with Structural Grasp and found her presence within the walls around them; although it was much muted.

_'Could she have become a Shadow in order to disguise herself within the walls? Excellent work Sakura. But negotiation is needed for this situation. Here we go…'_

"Illya-chan, your safe!" Shirou smiled openly at the white-haired girl, completely ignoring the Servant in the room.

This particular Servant was struck with a massive, and unpleasant, sense of Déjà vu: a male Emiya and a female Einzbern homunculus talking and ignoring her? She was _not_ going through that again!

"Eh? Silly Shirou, why would I be in danger?" Shirou could see the pain on her face. Every move, every breath her Servant took caused Illya agony without the help of the Grail.

"Illya, our father never abandoned you. He sought you out every month for years but that old fuck Jubstacheit never opened the forest Bounded Field. Eventually father found me and I had a talent in taking down Bounded Fields. He told me everything about you and charged me to rescue you when I was ready. He wrote you a letter you know; I kept it for you to read at his grave."

"…"

"Tou-san…never abandoned me?" The absolute shock of those words blasted straight through the girl's psyche. An extremely innocent girl; who never lied nor considered other people could lie; had just found out that her entire purpose was a lie.

Shirou sighed in relief at finally fulfilling his father's will before turning to the female Servant Illya had summoned.

It was an armoured and terrifying figure, like a nightmare from the darkest of fairy tales made real. A woman, her hair golden, her skin pale as death, but her eyes alight with ferocity. Her bright eyes shone the same yellow as Shirou's; and her armoured skirt was black with touches of red. A black and ruby sword seeping bloodlust was held in her armoured right hand.

But what was most surprising was the fact that he could feel some of his prana going into and supplying this Servant with extra Mana. As well as a bit of her powering up something inside of him.

"Who are you?" He bluntly asked the black swordsman.

"Servant Saber, battery boy." She looked down at his tied up form before looking concerned and checking up on Illya. "Where have you brought my Master and I; battery boy?"

"Battery boy?" Suddenly I had a sinking sensation as I saw Illya perk up.

"Yep! Onii-chan somehow became a second Mana source to Saber! Onii-chan and Tou-san protected Illya even now. Hah, Onii-chan…" The little snow fairy jumped onto his lap and hugged his chest, snuggling into the crook of his neck.

It would have been sweet if he wasn't tied to the said chair. As it was, Shirou was waiting for the little midget to bring out the bondage gear.

"Er, Illya-chan; can you untie me now so we can go and pay our respects to the old man? I have a letter deliver to you too. Oh and can Sakura-chan come too?"

Big mistake.

"Mou, Shirou! Who's this _Sakura-chan_? Shirou belongs to Illya and no one else!" Illya squeezed him harder and that damn Saber had the gall to start smirking at him.

_'Geh, what is with this girl? You can't just say that, people will misunderstand! Damn woman stop smirking at me like this is my fault!'_

"NO! Shirou belongs to me! You can't have him!" Sakura came out of the wall.

_'Geh, Sakura-chan too!'_

* * *

After that fiasco they all got changed and walked to the nearby graveyard where Kiritsugu was buried. Shirou looked down at his sister and handed her the old letter from his inner coat pocket. "Here you go Illya; a letter from Kiritsugu. I am going to go and rest against the old man." Shirou said as he walked around and sat down, back to back with his old man's gravestone, and closed his eyes.

Sakura waited a respectful distance away, hair dyed and contacts in to disguise her appearance. Saber stayed to the back and left of Illya; and from what he saw before closing his eyes; was glaring at his father's grave before looking away, ashamed.

In all honesty he had no idea what the letter said, nor did he feel the need to know. Space and privacy were very large parts of his country's culture; especially when dealing with grief.

That was why he was closing his eyes and ears, so that Illya wouldn't be ashamed to show tears. He had even dressed in black for the occasion.

He didn't know how long they had simply waited there before he felt a light body embracing him and tears trickling down his neck. "Onii-chan, let's go home." Shirou smiled and held out his left hand for her to take. Holding it and smiling through her tears, Shirou led Illya to Sakura and they all began walking home with Saber in tow. Home was Shirou's house, now with another new resident.

* * *

That next day Illya told them about the truth of the Holy Grail War; about how Angra Mainyu had infected the Great Grail. And suddenly Shirou had a new goal, one that could be achieved with these people in the room.

"Guys, let's make our time together memorable. For once we can be a complete family; two months before the war starts. We can fulfil our dreams and hobbies; ambitions and desires and always have a loving home to return to. Can we not truly enjoy ourselves in these two months?"

Sakura and Illya looked on at his speech with a child-like innocence (Illya) or true happiness (Sakura). Saber on the other hand just looked lost.

"We can still study. Illya could study the previous wars using the Einzbern mansion's library. Sakura would continue her Matou Magecraft education and I would love to spar with and be taught by you Saber. But we can truly enjoy our time together. Illya, you could go to school, go shopping and make friends like young girls always could. We could truly feel normal for two months and enjoy life. What do you say?"

Shirou smiled at all of them; unknowingly causing all three females to blush. There are only so many times you can feign apathy to a smiling, handsome, kind-hearted, white-haired man.

In another house in the city; a certain Tsundere felt the inexplicable need to attack Shirou.

"Ok Onii-chan! But you have to take me everywhere! You are now my new pet butler!"

Shirou laughed cheekily. "Does that make Saber your maid?"

Suddenly Saber; the Tyrant of Knights; felt as if something was walking across her grave. A pair of glowing red eyes examined her, causing her to sweat. "M-M-MAID!"

* * *

"I hate you for this, battery boy. I truly curse your entire line to the depths of hell. Your father's refusal of the Grail wasn't a bad enough humiliation to set upon my shoulders; no you had to disgrace my pride as a knight as well."

A certain black Saber had been all but forced to take Illya back to the Einzbern mansion in the nearby forests; and had reappeared dressed up like a doll in a maid outfit.

As funny as it was, Shirou had some self-preservation instincts; he just usually ignored them. He didn't say a word; although Saber definitely saw him smirking.

"Senpai; it's not nice to tease Saber," Sakura obviously caught his silent response. Time for his ultimate defines: grabbing Sakura by her waist and hair and bringing her into a heavy make out session; right on the public street. This act was far more taboo in Eastern culture then Western culture and left Sakura a blushing mess.

Forget the teasing argument; Sakura barely knew left from right in this situation. Illya pouted at the lack of attention from Shirou; and swore to have her revenge on the busty Sakura by forcing her into revealing maid outfits for her enjoyment.

Shirou looked at all three of the girls and a true smile appeared on his face. This was a true family. Even Saber would warm up eventually; Shirou would bet his life on it.

* * *

**Two months later…**

"It's amazing Onii-chan! The pain is all gone now!" Illya was skipping around far more than usual. The Holy Grail War had officially started and both he and Sakura had received command spells. They just had to summon their Servants.

Whatever catalyst Shirou had inside of him had obviously been used; and connected him to Saber; so he was tapped out.

The reagent to summon Hercules (from what Illya had told him) was not brought with them when Shirou teleported them to Japan; so it was lost. The Matou on the other hand had two reagents or catalysts: One was a ring fragment that would summon Lancelot; and a newer one that Sakura's grandfather had retrieved before his forced exile.

That one was one for Medusa.

After reading up on their legends; and knowing of course that Saber had already been summoned; they were able to extrapolate the potential Servant classes.

Lancelot was a master of all weapons and could technically be summoned as a Saber or Berserker; with a lesser chance of being a Lancer or Rider. Arodnight being an actual famous sword and Lancelot's weapon pretty much invalidated the Lancer-class despite Lancelot's skill with the said weapon. With Saber summoned, they were reasonably sure that they were going to summon the Lancelot who went mad after the betraying his king; and would seek the Holy Grail for redemption; since the legend said that upon gazing at the Grail Lancelot was cured of his madness.

It played havoc with Saber's mind to truly realise that only parts of her friends were being summoned; rather than the complete being like herself. It actually made the entire thing much more impersonal: to read up on the 'cured from madness' part of the legend and knowing that you friend is being summoned _before_ that part.

Not that she revealed her identity to anyone; in fact this world's Arthur was actually different to her; from Lancelot's betrayal onwards.

To just reject Mordred without giving her a chance to prove herself to be a leader of men first; and to just forgive Lancelot and Guinevere for their betrayal? Madness and foolishness; every knight had the chance to prove themselves to be a better king then her; Gawain had even successfully done so when she was away. That was the reason she had the Round Table in the first place; rather than a typical throne room for her knights.

Of course in her world she gifted Mordred with Arodnight and sent out Gawain to teach Mordred strategy and how to lead men. They marched out to a foreign battlefield whilst she and Bedivere stayed in Camelot to ensure stability. But then Morgan le Fay had made her move.

Incensed that her son had failed and that Arthur was still king; she manipulated the nobles and unhappy knights to turn the populous against her. Obviously Saber couldn't die; her most loyal knights and two heirs to the kingdom were out dealing with her country's enemies; and she was virtually alone aside from Bedivere.

Fortunately due to her execution of Lancelot and Guinevere she still had Avalon; that fiasco from what she had read never occurred, much to her relief; meaning that she healed her wounds whilst staining Excalibur black from killing her own knights and nobles.

Her biggest regret was the death of Bedivere in that coming conflict; and wishing him back to life was the wish she wanted from the Holy Grail at the time of the Forth Holy Grail War. Although her armour was black as night, and her sword stained with the blood on innocents; Saber still retained her Riding skill and B-ranked agility at the time of the Forth War.

Iskander had knocked some sense into her during that war; telling her that she mustn't invalidate her knight's sacrifice. In the end it did all work out for her in her legend: Mordred returned a better leader of men then she; and she gifted the dying homunculus with Avalon to restore her; before seeking out Morgan in a solo quest to slay the witch.

Years later and just after killing the witch; with the witch's magical poison swimming in her veins, so potent that it could invalidate even Avalon's healing; she heard that Mordred and Gawain had a son. Smiling a smile at her kingdom's secured future heir, and her grandson, being born; King Altria died with a smile on her face and with only one regret she wished to fix: to repay her most loyal of knights Bedivere with the life he wanted.

After listening to Iskander she was more than willing to give up the Grail; until at the end where she had been corrupted by that black mud. Now she sought the Grail to purify herself, ironically mimicking the Lancelot from this world's wish. This black mud, full of rage, that clogged up her limbs and mind in an attempt to corrupt her, had to go.

Of course the great joke was the fact that the Grail itself was the source of the mud in the first place, as she now knew from Illya.

* * *

From Lancelot's story, Sakura was chosen to be his master. Their stories and many similarities; and Sakura was technically a Grail level magus; meaning she could in theory control and supply a Berserker-class Servant with Mana. Not to mention the fact that she was making a lot of actual decent progress with the Matou family research; the job that her grandfather had been ignoring in his quest for immortality. Their family had created the Command seals and she was certain that she could bind a Berserker tightly.

Medusa was chosen to go second, as from her legend she could also be summoned as a Berserker-class do to her rage at men and eating her sisters. The strain of contributing a bit of his magic to Saber and a full Berserker would kill Shirou; or at the very least leave him without magic.

On the other hand, Medusa could also be summoned as a Rider, from the Bellerophon legend; or a Caster with very high Territory creation due to the Shapeless Isle legend. Either one would be far preferable, as one had a powerful Divine Beast Noble Phantasm whilst another would be a fellow magus with a massive capacity to feed on others, making the Heartless in him tremble with excitement.

Sakura stepped up to the circle and placed Lancelot's reagent down on the altar in front of the circle. It was a piece of his magical ring. Holding up her right arm, she began the incantation:

"**I hereby propose.**

**My will shall create thy body,**

**and thy sword shall create my fate.**

**If thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me.**

**I hereby swear.**

**I will be all that is good in the eternal world.**

**I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world.**

**Thou, clad with the great trinity, **

**come forth from the circle of constraint.**

**Guardian of heavenly scales.**"

Since Saber had already been summoned there was no need to change the ritual to specialise in summoning Berserker. Not only that, but Sakura was actually highly compatible with the Berserk Lancelot legend; which talked of love as a destructive force.

A black knight rose of from the shadows, with a glowing red visor showing no eyes underneath the helm. A heavy presence was felt; as if an entity would swallow you whole. Berserker took one look at Saber before blasting off, only to encounter a secondary Bounded field right outside the summoning circle. The Berserker-class suffers a reduction in Magic Resistance; and Lancelot was initially a Saber with D-ranked magic resistance, thanks to his ring.

A specialised binding Bounded Field used by the single most perfect anti-Servant master on the planet was more than enough to bind him. Although Sakura couldn't face a Servant in combat, her Invisible Numbers Sorcery Trait along with the binding Matou Magecraft made her 'super-effective' at binding and skewering spiritual beings. This Bounded Field was the result of two months of training in the traditional Matou Magecraft. Along with one other thing:

"**By the grace of my Command Seal and as the Heir to the Matou Magecraft; Berserker, Obey Me!**"

Sakura's Command Seal lit up as she utilised one Command Spell and piggybacked her own Magecraft onto the Greater Sorcery. That the Command Spell was initially a Matou magic made it even more compatible for binding the Servant to her. This was the other result of two months of research: a way to increase the binding properties of her Command Spells. Such things would naturally increase in strength anyway; in comparison to the magical strength of the mage, magical resistance of the Servant and willingness of the Servant to comply.

Sakura was an A-ranked Mana supply to the Servant; was utilising a specialised super Command Spell on the Servant, and the said Servant was a Berserker with a pitiful E-ranked Magic Resistance. This was the other reason that Sakura was chosen to be the master of Berserker.

Berserker groaned, the black knight straining against his new binds, before submitting to the inevitable. Sakura sighed before releasing the Bounded Field around the circle and directing Berserker off to the side. With her magic inside him she could direct Berserker with her mind alone; rather than use verbal commands.

"Good job Sakura. You have full control?" Shirou asked whilst looking at the straining Berserker; then looking at Berserker's Master. Sakura looked serene rather than struggling, which eased his fears. It seemed that she really did have control with that super Command Spell.

* * *

"I guess it's my turn now."

I step up to a second prepared Circle; since Berserker had ruined the first one. Although I didn't learn much Magecraft during these two months; as I focused a lot more on swordplay; Illya had taken great delight in drilling me from start to finish on the creation of the Summoning Circle and the correct incantation.

With a smile at Illya's direction as a silent thank you; I begin my own summoning…

**4300 words in this chapter! Holy shit! Servant Stats are up next chapter along with Shirou's new plan!**


End file.
